Wild Card
by HypotheticalEyeball
Summary: When Kominato Haruichi makes a new friend, it throws it curveball into his team's everyday life, and a chain of events is set off that few would have ever predicted.
1. Chapter 1

Haruichi sat at his desk at the back of the classroom. It was a beautiful, clear-sky day. He could feel its pull, a tug somewhere inside telling him to take advantage of the weather and play baseball. He would have loved to be outside, but he couldn't afford to skip class.

The teacher had just finished explaining that the class was to get into pairs for the project she had just outlined. Haruichi wondered whether it would be worse to be paired with Furuya or Sawamura. Neither of his teammates paid attention in class, and as a result both were barely passing. Furuya would probably ignore Haruichi in favour of a nap the way he always did when faced with schoolwork, and Haruichi didn't wish to deal with the excessive noise that came with Sawamura. He let out a sigh. It was too bad most of his other classmates took no notice of him.

"U-um...excuse me? Kominato-kun?" A girl's voice interrupted Haruichi's thoughts.

"Do you have a partner yet?" She asked.

"No." Haruichi admitted, feeling hopeful, "Do you want to be partners, Hotaru-chan?"

"Thank you!" Her face lit up, eyes filled with relief.

"What!?" Sawamura's startled shriek rang out, " I have to work with _him_!?"

"I don't want to work with him." Furuya told the teacher quietly.

"I heard that!" Sawamura shouted.

Haruichi stifled a laugh, but his willpower crumbled when Hotaru burst out laughing next to him.

"That's what they get for sleeping." She giggled, "For people so different, they sure have a lot in common."

"I think that's why they're rivals"

"Probably."

* * *

Eijun stomped angrily towards the practice field. His day had gone horribly, and he was going to let out his frustration in one of the only ways he knew. Exercise.

First, Kuramochi had turned off his alarm and snuck out without waking him up, so Eijun had been late to practice. He had had to spend the entire practice running laps. He hadn't touched a baseball all day. Then, despite sleeping in so long, he had fallen asleep during class. It should have been fine, because he usually got away with it, but this time it had gotten him paired up with Furuya for an assignment. Furuya, of all people. Not only did he have to cooperate with his rival, whom he absolutely hated, but he'd probably end up having to do all the work, and he had no idea what the project was supposed to be about, or how to do it. On top of that, Haruichi had disappeared during lunch, leaving Eijun alone with Furuya. Needless to say, there hadn't been much friendly conversation.

Muttering under his breath, Eijun pulled out his tire, only to realize that one of the reasons he was in such a bad mood was that he'd spent practice running with it. Past caring, he let out a yell of frustration, launching himself forwards at full speed. He ran and ran until he was out of breath, and had forgotten why he was so worked up in the first place. Eijun placed his tire back where he had gotten it, giving a a loving pat as he gazed tenderly at his partner.

"Oi, what's with that face, Bakamura?"

Eijun bristled, yanking his tire back out and resuming his run. Trust Miyuki to ruin his good mood.

"I know you love that tire, but you should really get some sleep."

"If you really understand our relationship then you'll let us run!" Eijun shouted.

"You are way too fond of that tire, you idiot."

"You don't understand!"

"No, I don't. Now get your butt in bed before Kuramochi gets involved!"

Eijun blanched at the thought of what Kuramochi would do to him if he was woken up. One more headlock and-he didn't want to think about it.

Scowling, Eijun reluctantly put his tire away, letting Miyuki drag him back to the dorms.

"At least walk!" Miyuki complained.

Eijun just glared at him, determined to make him regret interrupting the moment Eijun had been having with his tire.

"Ouch!" Eijun felt his back collide with the hard ground as Miyuki released his grip. Eijun leapt to his feet, planning to make a run for it.

"Not so fast, Bakamura." Miyuki scolded him, grabbing his shirt once more.

"Let go of me, Miyuki!" Eijun whined.

"You mean 'let go of me, Miyuki-_senpai_'."

"No I don't! You're evil!"

Miyuki just laughed, opening the door to the room Eijun shared with Kuramochi and Masuko. He dropped Eijun into a heap on the floor, shutting the door before he had a chance to escape. Eijun pushed against the door, but Miyuki was keeping it closed from the other side. As Eijun's fist was about to make contact with the door, the realization that he could end up waking Kuromochi stopped him almost instantaneously. It was no use.

In a mood no better than he had been in when he snuck out, Eijun slipped into his pyjamas and flopped down onto his bed. Stupid Miyuki. There was no way Eijun was going to call him senpai when he was so mean.


	2. Chapter 2

"So we can do our research by playing cards?" Haruichi confirmed.

"Yup." Hotaru replied, "A lot of card games rely on probability."

"It's a good thing we picked our topic already."

"I still wanted to do the project on my ability to predict the future."

"I think that's called common sense, although it isn't exactly common anymore."

Hotaru laughed, "No, it isn't."

"Should we get started?"

"I suppose. How about we play Crazy Eights?"

Haruichi removed the two Jokers from the top of the deck, dealing eight cards each to Hotaru and himself. He placed the rest of the deck in the middle, flipped the top card, and the game began.

It was nice talking to somebody new for a change. The only people Haruichi really talked to were his teammates, Furuya and Sawamura in particular. Hanging out with them could be exhausting, especially because they were constantly at eachother's throats.

"Y'know,"Hotaru said, "This is fun. I've never really had many friends at this school."

"Why not?" She was smart and funny, so Haruichi couldn't think of an obvious reason.

"I'm not sure. I only had one friend at my old school, and that was because nobody else put up with her. Most of the girls here just avoid me because they think I'm weird or something."

She placed down a four of diamonds. "Last card."

Haruichi set down his eight of diamonds. "Last card. I change it to hearts."

Hotaru smiled, showing him her last card victoriously. "I win."

It was a two of hearts.

Haruichi grinned, showing his ace of hearts. If her card hadn't been hearts, he would have won.

They recorded the starting cards, starting player, and various other information for each game. Putting the project together was going to be a pain once they had finished collecting their research, but until then they could just have fun.

"Oi! Harucchi!" Sawamura yelled, "Why did you leave me with Furuya?"

"Don't you two have a project to work on?" Haruichi asked. It had already been a couple of days since it had been assigned, and Furuya and Sawamura had yet to begin.

"Why are you playing cards with a girl?"

"It's for our project, Eijun."

"Huh? How does that have anything to do with probababiliness?"

"Probability." Haruichi said.

"Yeah, that."

"Why don't you play with us and find out." Hotaru suggested.

"Who are you?" Sawamura asked.

"My name is Hotaru Akemi. We're in the same class."

"Oh." Sawamura sat down, "Uh, I knew that."

Hotaru added a column to their chart, and dealt eight cards to each player.

"Do you know how to play Crazy Eights?" Haruichi asked.

Sawamura, as he suspected, had absolutely no idea how to play, but after a quick explanation of the rules, Hotaru flipped the top card, beginning the game.

Sawamura was bleeding, but he was so terrible at choosing which card to put down that Haruichi and Hotaru had already seen all of his cards anyways.

"The card you put down has to have the same suit or number as the card you put it on top of." Hotaru said patiently.

"What's that card?" Sawamura asked.

"That's the ace of spades."

"Why's it so fancy?"

"The card designer usually puts some sort of special mark on the ace of spades."

"How about this card, Firefly-chan?" Sawamura asked.

Haruichi coughed. Seriously, Sawamura. "Her name is Hotaru."

"It's okay. That's the ace of diamonds." she said.

"That's what I'm gonna be!" Sawamura announced.

Haruichi smiled. That was Sawamura for you.

"You're gonna need to get a lot thinner if you plan on becoming a card." Hotaru giggled, no doubt picturing a very obnoxious card.

"What? No! I mean I'm going to be the ace!"

"I don't think you'll fit in the box, Eijun." Haruichi added.

"I mean I'm going to be the ace! On a baseball team!" exclaimed an increasingly agitated Sawamura.

"That would make a good story." Hotaru smiled, "How about I name the characters after the baseball team?"

"You could make one of the cards loud and obnoxious and name it Sawamura." Haruichi agreed.

Hotaru pulled out a notebook and began writing furiously, with Haruichi looking over her shoulder, adding his input every so often.

"Hey! Are you even listening? I said that I was going to become a baseball ace!" Sawamura shouted, "Not a card!"

"We heard you." Haruichi said.

"We just thought that a story about cards playing baseball would be interesting." Hotaru finished.

Sawamura seethed, slamming his card onto the table.

"Last card." Haruichi said, "Pick up eight cards from the draw pile."

"What?! That's no fair!"

"Than call 'last card' sooner next time." Haruichi replied, looking at his cards. He placed down two Jacks, grinning. He had this game in the bag.

"Last-

"Last card!" Haruichi interrupted Sawamura.

He placed down his last card triumphantly. Now he and Hotaru were tied.

"You win this time." She said.

Sawamura glared at him sourly, and if Haruichi had been any less familiar with Sawamura, he would've been concerned for his well-being. Sawamura was furious.

"C'mon, lets team up against him this turn." Hotaru suggested, nudging Sawamura to get his attention.

"You're going down!" Sawamura shouted.

Hotaru looked suspiciously pleased, and Haruichi was almost certain she would betray Sawamura at the last moment to win herself.

Sure enough, Hotaru won the next game, and Sawamura started complaining about how she was just like Miyuki. Haruichi couldn't help but join in with her laughter as Sawamura worked himself up, his face reddening as he vented.

* * *

"So, did you find out where Haruichi's been disappearing to at lunch?" Miyuki asked, smirking. Eijun sure loved to blow things out of proportion. Miyuki found it entertaining.

"He was outside with a girl!" Eijun replied, "He left me alone with Furuya to play Crazy Aces with Firefly-chan!"

"Do you mean Crazy Eights? The card game?"

Kuramochi suddenly popped up beside Eijun, and Eijun let out a startled scream.

"Haruichi has a girlfriend?" Kuramochi exclaimed.

"He said it was for a project." Eijun said, "I still don't understand how card games have to do with probababily though."

"Don't think too hard. You might hurt yourself." Miyuki teased.

"Just tell me about his girlfriend." Kuramochi said.

"Um...her name is Firefly-chan, I think, and she's just like Miyuki!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kuramochi asked, "And what kind of name is Firefly?"

"It means that she is amazing and talented." Miyuki interjected.

"No! What does she look like? Is she pretty?"

"I guess." Sawamura said, "But she tricked me to win Crappy Eights!"

"What do you mean, 'I guess', at least tell me her hair colour or eye colour or something." Kuramochi grabbed Eijun, forcing him into a headlock to interrogate him, not bothering to mention that trickery was a major part of most card games.

"Oww! Kuramochi-senpai!"

"Why don't you ever call _me_ senpai?" Miyuki griped, "Do I need to put you in a headlock?"

"Shh. I'm trying to get information out of him, Miyuki." Kuramochi huffed, "Tell me already, Bakamura!"

"Uh...she has light brown hair! And it's straight! And blue eyes, I think, and she has a face! And fingernails!"

"Everybody has those, idiot!" Kuramochi growled, tightening his hold, "But you might not if you don't tell me."

Eijun shouted louder, thrashing wildly in an attempt to escape Kuramochi's grip.

"Could you please let go of Eijun?" Haruichi asked, "You're disrupting practice."

"Ah, Haruichi. Why don't _you_ tell me about your girlfriend, then." Kuromochi grinned menacingly, releasing Eijun.

"Harucchi! My saviour!" Eijun cheered, putting a healthy distance between himself and Kuramochi.

"I don't have a girlfriend." Haruichi said.

"Then who's this Firefly-chan Sawamura was telling us about?"

"He must mean Hotaru Akemi. We're working on a project together."

"Yeah right. What do cards have to do with a project?"

"Our project is on real life applications of probability."

"Hyahaha! The probability that you're lying right now is high." Kuramochi retorted.

"Eijun and Furuya are doing the same project, but theirs is on weather prediction."

"Haha! Sounds like Sawamura drew the short straw!" Miyuki chuckled.

"Don't laugh, bastard! It's not funny!" Eijun shouted. "I have to work with Furuya! And weather is so boring!"

"I work with Furuya all the time." Miyuki said, "Does that mean you feel sorry for me?"

Eijun scowled, that wasn't it at all. "No! You have a twisted personality, you deserve to be stuck with Furuya! And besides, baseball is way better than weather!"

Haruichi took Miyuki and Eijun's argument as his cue, and snuck away. By the time Kuramochi realized he was gone it was too late. Eijun felt Kuramochi's foot connect with his back, sending him stumbling forwards, landing on his face.

"What was that for?" He yelled, spitting out sand.

"Your idiotic shouting let Haruichi run away!"

Suddenly, an ominous presence loomed behind them. They turned around slowly to see the captain glaring at them.

"S-sorry, Captain. I was just getting back to practice." Kuramochi stammered.

Eijun hid behind Miyuki nervously.

"Good." The captain's intense gaze moved to Miyuki and Eijun, "I hope you two are, too."

Eijun nodded meekly, relieved when the captain finally turned away. He let out a breath, wiping the sweat off his forehead. All this and practice had barely started!

"C'mon, Bakamura. I thought you wanted me to catch for you." Miyuki's voice broke into Eijun's thoughts.

Eijun perked up, hurrying into the bullpen. He didn't have any time to waste.

* * *

Hotaru means Firefly, FYI. Also, I might be turning this into sort of a MiyuSawa fic, or adding some more pairings. Any suggestions are welcome.


	3. Chapter 3

Kuramochi was crouched behind a particularly large bush. He was carefully observing Haruichi and his girlfriend. The situation was similar to Sawamura and Wakana. Neither Haruichi nor Sawamura would admit to having girlfriends, but Kuramoch was certain that they were lying. He just had no idea why. Their girlfriends were both very pretty. Haruichi's girlfriend had long golden hair, and a nice body, if you asked Kuramochi.

Haruichi and his girlfriend-Kuramochi was pretty sure Sawamura had called her Firefly-chan-were looking at a sketchpad. Firefly-chan was showing Haruichi her sketches, some of which were of Haruichi and his classmates. Kuramochi had no idea why anybody would want to draw Haruichi, what with the hair obscuring most of his face, but then, Kuramochi had no idea why anybody would want to date Haruichi either. How Haruichi had managed to snag such a beautiful girlfriend was beyond him.

Kuramochi hadn't been paying much attention to the conversation until he heard his name. Apparently the couple was writing a story, and one of the characters was named Kuramochi. He hoped Kuramochi would end up being the hero of the story.

"Ooh! And the young cards should have to earn their numbers!" Firefly-chan suggested.

"Just like real baseball." Haruichi agreed.

Geez, Kuramochi was beginning to worry that he was hearing things. Either the story Haruichi and Firefly-chan were writing was ridiculous, or he had misheard them.

"What's today's game?" Haruichi asked.

"War."

Now Kuramochi was concerned, although he was unsure whether he should be worried for Haruichi, Firefly-chan, or himself. Kuramochi shuffled closer, hoping to hear the conversation more clearly. He was relieved when Haruichi and Firefly-chan turned out to just be playing the card game. They were recording something on a sheet of paper as they played. Were they really that competitive?

Kuramochi watched Sawamura noisily make his way over. The first-years took a moment to figure out how to play with three players, and were about to start dealing cards when Miyuki appeared.

Firefly-chan asked him to play with them saying, "That way we can play with teams. Two on two. Haruichi and I against you and Sawamura."

"Why do I have to be with Miyuki?" Sawamura whined.

"I'm right here." Miyuki reminded him, unimpressed, "And where's the respect?"

Haruichi hurried to start talking before Sawamura's complaining could pick up momentum, "Miyuki is probably good at cards. He will make a good teammate."

Kuramochi smirked, noting how Haruichi strategically skipped over the fact that War was a game of chance. Firefly-chan divided the deck evenly between the four players while Haruichi scribbled something down in their notebook. Each player flipped a card, so that there were two per team. Haruichi and Firefly-chan had two eights. Sawamura and Miyuki had an ace and a four.

"You win this round." Haruichi said.

Sawamura jumped up, boasting loudly to express his excitement.

"See, I _am_ good at cards." Miyuki bragged.

"This is a game of luck, and you placed down the four." Haruichi pointed out quietly, Sawamura still cheering.

"Ssh! The idiot might hear you!"

"I heard that Miyuki!" Sawamura shouted, "What didn't I hear?"

"Oh, um, I was just saying how my favorite number is eight." Firefly-chan piped up, hiding her grin.

"Why?" Sawamura looked bewildered, "Isn't one the best number?"

"Well the rhyme goes 'first is the worst, second is the best'." Miyuki smirked, hoping Sawamura would get what he was hinting at.

"But you don't play second." Sawamura said, Haruichi and Firefly-hun giggling at his confusion.

Miyuki looked slightly disappointed. But then, he had likely expected the idiot not to get it anyways.

"I associate the number eight with good memories." Firefly-chan explained.

Haruichi looked at her, and though Kuramochi could only see the back of his head, he imagined that Haruichi's face wore a meaningful expression. From that particular angle, Kuramochi almost mistook Haruichi for Ryousuke for a moment. Kuramochi found something all too familiar bubbling in his chest. Jealousy. He wondered for a moment who exactly he was jealous of. Was it Haruichi, or, had his mistaking Haruichi for Ryousuke triggered his envy? He shook his head, dislodging he thought. Why would he be jealous of a girl? Wasn't that something that only happened to girls? He was a guy for crying out loud! Haruichi sure was lucky, having a girlfriend like Firefly-chan, or, at least that's what Kuramochi thought.

A particularly sharp branch jabbed into Kuramochi's side, reminding him what he had been doing crouched in a bush in the first place. He peered through a gap in the branches.

"Wasn't that game kind of short?" Sawamura asked.

"You just realized that?" Firefly-chan said, looking up from the notebook.

Miyuki sighed.

"You only won the round. The game continues until we have no more cards." Haruichi explained.

Sawamura looked scandalized, and Kuramochi was glad for the soft breeze that rustled the leaves, covering his snicker. He decided that he would have to come play tomorrow.

Firefly-chan and Miyuki were whispering conspiratorially, pointing at something in Haruichi and Firefly-chan's notebook. Kuramochi wasn't the best lip reader, but from what he could tell they were talking Haruichi and Firefly-chan's weird story. Sawamura had noticed, and looked terrified. Haruichi was busy writing something down himself, so he only caught the tail end of their exchange, Firefly-chan barely able to contain her laughter. Just sitting with Haruichi she had been smiling ear to ear as if she had won the lottery, and with Miyuki and Sawamura added to the mix she was practically glowing. Kuramochi wished someone would look at him like that.

"What's wrong?" Miyuki questioned Sawamura.

"What are you planning?"

"Only to win."

"That better be it."

"Come on! It's your turn." Haruichi prompted.

Miyuki elbowed Sawamra, who then procedded to make a ruckus over how annoying he found Miyuki, and how Miyuki should be nicer to him.

Firefly-chan reached across the table and plucked a card out of Sawamura's hands, placing it next to Miyuki's. He turned towards her, the melodramatic tears that had been streaming down his face drying as he narrowed his eyes.

Haruichi slid the four cards across the table, "You win. Next round."

This distracted Sawamura once more, prompting him to resume boasting about his greatness. That was his underclassman.

"What are you doing?" A soft voice breathed right next to Kuramochi.

"Ryo-san?" Kuramochi nearly fell backwards.

"I want to know what's so funny."

Kuramochi pointed towards the three first-years and Miyuki.

"Bakamura and Miyuki are playing cards with your brother and his girlfriend."

Ryousuke looked at Kuramochi, "Who's girlfriend?"

"Haruichi's."

"Are you sure?"

"Why wouldn't she be? Firefly-chan is pretty."

Ryousuke sighed, "Why are you in these bushes spying on them?"

"I thought I might see something interesting. Haruichi claims that Firefly-chan is just his partner for a project, but I don't believe him. His excuse was ridiculous."

"What was Haruichi's excuse?"

"Something about a project. He claims that they're playing card games as 'research'. It's almost as crazy as the story they're writing. It's about talking cards that have to prove themselves before they can get their numbers, and they're all named after us. And I think Miyuki is helping now, too.."

"Us?"

"Yeah, the baseball team."

"Interesting."


	4. Chapter 4

Miyuki traipsed along with Haruichi and Hotaru, Sawamura falling into step beside him. As they turned the corner past a bush, Sawamura gave a startled squeak and tumbled face first into the hard ground. Or, at least, he should have, but instead of a the painful _smack_ Miyuki braced himself for, he heard a soft _thump_, and a rather irritated Kuramochi.

Kuramochi wasted no time scolding Sawamura, "Watch where you're going, idiot!"

"How was I supposed to know you were hiding behind a bush?"

"You didn't have to trip and fall on me!"

"Well you didn't have to elbow me and then start yelling when it was clearly your fault that I tripped!" Sawamura protested.

"You deserved it for not noticing your senpai."

"You looked pretty distracted yourself." Ryousuke commented.

"He's the one who tripped! And besides, he was obviously busy staring at-"

Kuramochi was cut of by Hotaru's laughter.

"Does he really think getting mad at Sawamura will distract us from the fact that he was hiding in the bushes with your brother?" She giggled.

"Apparently. You do know he's listening, right?" Haruichi pointed out.

"Yeah. I thought I'd draw attention to the more interesting facts. This could be useful for our story."

Ryousuke looked at Haruichi and raised an eyebrow. Haruichi reddened, but didn't say anything.

"What were you up to behind that bush?" Miyuki asked.

"Hyahaha! You wish you knew." Kuramochi answered nervously, "Maybe we were plotting your murder."

"And what would your motive be?"

"That's between Ryo-san and me. Besides, everyone says you've got a nasty personality."

Hotaru grinned, leaning over to whisper in Sawamura's ear, "I think I know what they were doing."

Miyuki gave Kuramochi a quick retort and then watched, hoping that Hotaru wasn't attempting to flirt with Bakamura.

He observed Sawamura's eyes widening.

"What?" Sawamura whispered excitedly.

Hotaru leaned closer to his ear, and Miyuki couldn't quite catch her words. Maybe Haruichi knew what she said. He seemed to have grown pretty close to Hotaru after a few days of 'research'.

"What's she saying to him?" He asked Haruichi.

Haruichi shrugged. He'd find out when he and Hotaru worked on their story again.

"Hotaru," Haruichi said, trying not to blush any more, "Why are you flirting with Sawamura? It's making Miyuki jeal-"

Miyuki slapped a hand over Haruichi's mouth before he could continue.

"I'm not!" Came her flustered reply, "This is how I talk to everyone."

Sawamura scrunched up his face, trying to make sense of the situation.

"Doesn't that mean you flirt with everybody?" He wondered.

Hotaru's face turned bright red, and as soon as the boys began berating Sawamura for his tactless mistake, she made her escape. Haruichi reached out an arm in her direction, but it was too late.

After Sawamura received sufficient scolding, they decided that someone should go and apologize to Hotaru, that someone being Sawamura. They sent him over to the tree she was sitting under and waited.

"Firefly-chan?" Sawamura said tentatively.

She looked up, "Yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

"It's alright." She said, "I'm not exactly great with people, and you reminded me so much if my brothers that I was probably a little bit too friendly."

"Do I remind you of your heroic big brother?" Sawamura grinned, puffing out his chest.

Hotaru stood up and hugged the tree, "Nope. You remind me of my littlest brother."

"What!?" Sawamura exclaimed, "And why are you hugging a tree?"

"Well, it would be weird if I hugged you, because they're watching and you're not my actual brother, but I needed a hug." She pointed at Haruichi and the others.

"Since you're here, why don't you pose for me?"

"Huh?"

"I like drawing people, but it's easier if I have a real person to draw." Hotaru explained.

"Oh, okay. What pose should I do?"

"Just pretend to be someone you see often."

Sawamura crouched down, raising his hands in front of him, his fingers curled to mimic claws.

"Rawr! I'm Miyuki and I'm evil."

"Good. Now stay still." Hotaru requested, carefully maintaining a straight face.

Sawamura nodded.

"That's not still."

He went to say something, but quickly shut his mouth before he got caught moving again.

"You really like him, don't you." Hotaru's pencil danced across her paper.

Sawamura stared at her in confusion. Did she mean Miyuki?

"Huh?" He grunted.

She look up from her sketch, observing her reference, "Just keep in mind that Miyuki wouldn't put up with you so well if he didn't like you."

"What?!" Sawamura peered at Miyuki. Did he really look like he liked him? Or was Hotaru just Haruichi's weird friend?

"Hey! Stay still! You're lucky I've already drawn your head." Hotaru interrupted Sawamura's assessment before he had the chance to decide anything.

He turned back. Right. He'd nearly forgotten.

"What are they even doing over there?" Kuramochi wondered aloud.

"I think Sawamura is pretending to be Miyuki." Ryousuke smiled.

Kuramochi snickered, "He's not a very good actor, is he."

"He's a pretty open book." Haruichi agreed, "But I think that works in his favour."

"Only because he has good intentions." Ryousuke pointed out.

"I don't know." Miyuki said, "I can't figure out what he's been hiding recently."

"Maybe that's because he doesn't know either." Haruichi speculated.

"Is she drawing him?" Kuramochi interjected.

"I believe so."

"I'm impressed that he's able to stay still for so long." Miyuki said.

"I think it's because he's confused. Whatever Hotaru-that is her name, right?" Ryousuke began.

"Yes." Haruichi confirmed.

"Whatever Hotaru said was too much for Sawamura's little brain." Ryousuke finished.

"Hey," Miyuki said suddenly, "What were you doing behind that bush anyways?"

Kuramochi rolled his eyes, "I told you. Nothing."

"Yeah. You did tell me nothing. Now tell me something."

"I think you should be more worried about Sawamura." Ryousuke strategically redirected his attention, "Who knows what Hotaru told him."

Hotaru was showing Sawamura what she had drawn. He squinted at it from various angles, and Miyuki wondered whether he was aware of the ridiculous faces he was making.

"It looks safe to go find out." Miyuki suggested.

"Can't leave Bakamura to his own devices for too long or he might do something else stupid." Kuramochi snickered.

Miyuki led the way over to the tree.

"They're coming." He heard Sawamura whisper loudly.

"So?" Hotaru replied.

"But they're coming."

"Yeah. That's fine with me. Do you need a hiding place?"

"But-I thought you-" Sawamura stuttered.

Hotaru laughed, and appeared to be restraining herself from ruffling Sawamura's hair.

"You really are a lot like my little brother." For some strange reason, her words relieved Miyuki. He decided that he would have to figure out why later, but, at the moment, the reason was beyond him.

"Hey." He said, "What have you been telling Sawamura?"

"I was just telling him about how much you guys remind me of my brothers." Hotaru replied.

"Is that why he looks so confused?" Miyuki asked, flashing the smile that made his fangirls melt. He was prepared to use all of his tricks for interrogation.

"I'm not confused!" Sawamura interrupted.

"Shut up, Bakamura!" Someone snapped.

"Well, I didn't tell him anything that he shouldn't already know." Hotaru answered.

Uh-oh. She wasn't saying much, but that could mean anything. Sawamura wasn't exactly the most observant.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Miyuki asked.

"It's cute how you're so protective of Sawamura." Hotaru smiled, and Miyuki was surprised to not find a hint of sarcasm in her tone.

"Geez, make up your mind." Miyuki said, hoping to get something out of her, "First I'm brother-zoned, and now I'm cute."

Hotaru flushed, "I didn't mean it like that. I mean, it's cute in the way that it's cute when one of my brothers is considerate instead of being bothersome."

"Oh, okay. Well, this brother wants to know what you said so that I can make sure nothing's broken."

Kuramochi was barely holding back his laughter. He whispered furiously to Ryousuke, and Miyuki couldn't hear what he said, so he just glared at him instead.

"I told him that getting close to successfully plot your murder isn't the only reason people tolerate you." Hotaru elaborated.

"You did?" Sawamura looked even more confounded at her words.

"Yes. I did. Not those exact words, but..."

"But what?"

"But I think you understood it better the way I told you."

"Why isn't anybody telling me anything today?" Miyuki grumbled.

"Because you have a nasty personality." Sawamura and Kuramochi said automatically.

"And now karma's come back to bite you in the butt." Miyuki heard someone mutter to themselves.

Miyuki's cheeky "Thank you." was cut off by Kuramochi finally releasing his laughter.

"You said it, Mini-Kominato." He choked out between his snickers.

Haruichi blushed bright red and covered his face.

Ryousuke grinned patronizingly, "Looks like he blew your cover. But when did you get so naughty?"

Haruichi only grew redder, trying to ignore his brother's comment.

Miyuki looked away in time to see Hotaru writing in the notebook she shared with Haruichi. Too bad the distraction of Haruichi's betrayal wasn't going to get him away unscathed. Miyuki the card was going to be sneaky, underhanded and protective, among other things. A combination that didn't make a whole lot of sense, but then, few people did.

* * *

I hope you're enjoying the story so far. I'm certainly enjoying writing it. I'm debating how overly angsty I want to make this, and which ships I should include. (There will definitely be more melodramatic EijunxTire) I have some random events written that I am going to work into chapters, though I'm not sure how soon they can be relevant. Any suggestions or corrections are welcome, and I love seeing your opinions. Basically, if there's anything in particular that you want to read, tell me in a review and I'll see what I can do. (Did you catch that rhyme?XD)

Until next time! :) (Heehee another one XD)


	5. Chapter 5

Akemi sat under a tree, smiling to herself as she drew. Although she hadn't planned to, when she and Haruichi were walking to his baseball practice, she had ended up staying. Recently, she had been working on drawing bodies, particularly those in motion, and the baseball practice was a great opportunity to do so. The repetitive nature of practice meant that the team members would often keep going back to whatever positions she was drawing them in.

Akemi studied one of the players. From Haruichi's description she guessed that he was the team captain, Tetsuya Yuki. He had a sort of untouchable aura as he focused all of his attention into each swing of the bat. His expression was consistent enough that she could capture it easily on paper.

She heard a particularly loud voice yell out, and saw that it belonged to Sawamura. Akemi thought about how he called her Firefly-chan and smiled. Now she could say that her name was Hotaru Akemi, but her friends called her Firefly-chan.

Akemi wished she could decide how to draw Haruichi. It was easy in class, because everyone was sitting at desks, but on the baseball diamond Haruichi was everywhere. It was like he was a different person, someone more alive. He had the same expression he had worn when he was playing cards with her. As if he knew where he fit into the world.

Akemi looked at the page open in her sketchpad. It was covered with sketches of Haruichi in various positions from different angles. He never stayed in one place for long, so it was difficult to accurately complete a drawing. She looked up to see the players dispersing. Was practice over already? Akemi noticed one of them coming towards her. She thought she had been hidden in the shadow under the tree.

"Hello. We never had the chance to get properly intruduced," he said, "I am Kuramochi Youichi. Who might you be?"

"Um...my name is Hotaru Akemi, but my friends call me Firefly-chan." She replied, a brilliant smile spreading across her face. She had just been wanting to say that.

Kuramochi sat down next to her, "Ah, so you _are_ Haruichi's girlfriend."

She looked at him in confusion, "Haruichi has a girlfriend?"

"Oh, so you're single then?"

"Why are you asking that?" Akemi asked, hoping that her cheeks didn't reflect how flustered she was becoming. She wasn't exactly great with people.

"Because you're pretty." Kuramochi said simply.

"Oh, um, thank you."

"Oi, Kuramochi, who are you flirting with?" A pink haired boy called.

Was he Haruichi's older brother?

"Oh, Ryo-san, I'm talking to your brother's girlfriend."

Ryousuke gave Kuramochi a look of disbelief and introduced himself to Akemi.

Kuramochi smirked, "You're just in denial because you're jealous."

Ryousuke's expression flared threateningly. As he replied to Kuramochi's jab, Akemi stood, brushing off her skirt. She slid her sketchpad and notebook into her bag, slinging it over her shoulder.

"We should ask Haruichi then." Ryousuke was saying.

Kuramochi shouted, "Oi! Mini-Kominato! Your girlfriend is here!"

Akemi felt her face heat up until she was sure she must have resembled a tomato.

"I'm not his girlfriend." She said, "We're just friends."

Unfortunately, neither boy paid attention to her words.

Haruichi jogged over to the tree they were under. he greeted his teammates and clarified that he had correctly heard Kuramochi.

"What do you mean, Kuramochi-senpai?" he asked, "I don't have a girlfriend."

"That's what I said." Akemi interjected.

"Hello, Akemi." Haruichi smiled.

"Hello."

Ryousuke turned to Kuramochi, " You should stop exaggerating so much, Youichi. This is just like with Wakana."

"Sawamura is a liar!" Kuramochi insisted, "Besides, your brother and Firefly-kun are on a first name basis."

"Why can't they remember my name?" Akemi muttered to herself, unsure whether she enjoyed having such a nickname after all.

* * *

Eijun rubbed his temples, trying to come up with the meaning behind Firefly-chan's cryptic statement. Miyuki was good at putting up with him because he liked him? What did that even mean? Did Firefly-chan think that constantly teasing Eijun was 'putting up with him'? Did putting up with someone indicate romantic interest? Was that even the kind of 'like' Firefly-chan had meant?

Eijun's brain was bombarded by a flurry of unanswerable questions, and after a major headache, he had managed to think up what he thought to be the perfect solution. What Eijun's confusion indicated was that he did not know enough about relationships. So, he decided that the best path to take from there was to learn more about relationships and prevent future headaches.

Eijun opened the doors to the library, glancing around nervously as he passed the threshold. He had never entered a school library before, and felt out of place among the towering shelves of books. They reached nearly to the ceiling, and the thought of having to read the books on them was intimidating, especially the thicker ones. Some of the books looked dangerously heavy. What if one fell and hit his head? Seido would have to do without their star pitcher and soon-to-be-ace. What if he was permanently out and-he wouldn't think about that. Eijun was going to become the ace one day, of that much he was certain.

Tiptoeing gingerly, so as not to start a painful avalanche, Eijun made his way over to the librarian's desk.

She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, "How may I help you?"

"I need books about relationships." He said with determination.

"Sssh! There is no yelling in the library!" The librarian hissed.

"I'm sorry!" Eijun whispered, unaware that he was scarcely any quieter.

"What kind of relationship books are you looking for?"

Did it matter?

"Umm...whichever ones people read the most."

"Okay, right this way." The librarian could tell that Eijun was not capable of navigating the library alone. She led him to a rack of mangas. The label on that particular shelf read, _'shoujo'. _

Eijun was comforted by the amount of pictures. These he would have an easier time reading. The librarian obviously knew what she was doing if she could find exactly what he needed so easily. Thanking the librarian profusely, he proceeded to grab an armful of mangas to check out. He even managed to exit without making to much of a scene or getting kicked out for being too loud, although he did get scolded multiple times and was stopped from continuing his sincere thanks to the librarian.

Eijun clutched the mangas to his chest, feeling more confident already. He would learn everything there was to know about relationships, and beat Furuya by an even longer shot!


	6. Chapter 6

Eijun could only read for so long, and so he let out a fierce battle cry as he flung himself forwards, his beloved tire dragging behind him. Another shout followed his first as his feet pedalled beneath him. Running always helped Eijun relieve his frustration. No matter what happened, he could always run with his tire. Through good times and bad, it was always there.

He stopped to catch his breath, clutching his tire close to him. Eijun ran a loving hand across its worn surface.

And then it was gone. His panicked arms shot out, grasping at empty air.

"Baka. Why are you always practicing so late?" Miyuki asked, holding tightly onto Eijun's tire.

"Give it back!" Eijun shouted, "We were having a moment!"

Miyiki raised an eyebrow, "A moment?"

"Just give me my tire!"

"But you need to get some sleep."

"How can I sleep knowing someone as twisted as you has their hands on my precious partner?" Eijun retorted.

Miyuki forced a laugh, "Thanks."

"Give it back! It's mine! It even has my name on it because Furuya kept taking it!"

"I know." Miyuki said, remembering that practice, which now seemed so long ago.

"Then give it back! Me and that tire have a special bond! We've been through a lot together!"

"Sheesh, quiet down, Baka. You're gonna wake everyone up at this rate."

Eijun shot forward, taking advantage of Miyuki's surprise as he rescued his dear tire. He sniffed, hugging it close to his chest.

"Alright. Just get some sleep, okay?" Miyuki said.

Eijun gave Miyuki a fierce glare, but gave in, carefully putting away his tire and following Miyuki back to the dorms. It seemed as if everyone was trying to get between Eijun and his tire. First Furuya, and now Miyuki.

* * *

As darkness fell over the practice fields, Haruichi was busy doing laundry. His roommates had sent him out at the last minute, but he didn't particularly mind. The night was beautiful and gave him time alone with his thoughts.

The machine hummed beside him, a sort of bass line to the higher pitched chirping of insects. Haruichi leaned back against the washer, gazing up into the night sky. A softly glowing firefly floated by, tumbling around as if without a care in the world.

That was how Akemi made him feel.

As if someone paid attention. As if someone cared. As if he mattered to anyone other than his family and the baseball team. He supposed it went both ways, seeing as neither of them had an exceptionally large group of friends, most likely as a result of their mutual shyness.

He liked having a friend to relate to, to goof off with, to do something where he could step outside of his brother's shadow and be different. The baseball team just wasn't the same. He loved their antics, the practices, and working towards their goal, but most of them were baseball idiots with more than a few bothersome quirks. Kuramochi's wrestling holds, Miyuki's scheming, Sawamura's volume, and Furuya's constant tuning out the world, to name a few.

Haruichi wondered idly if he had any strange quirks. Someone else would probably be able to tell him better, so he decided to just ask Akemi when he saw her next.

He knew that somebody was bound to tattletale if he spent too much time with Akemi rather than practicing baseball, but he wasn't worried about that. Baseball was too important to neglect. He figured he could just ask her to play catch with him. That was something friends did, right? Helping eachother, and doing things like that to have an excuse to hang out, because they enjoyed eachother's company.

He could never quit baseball. As exciting as a new friendship was, baseball was his passion. Friends and a social life, though, were a piece of his life that had been incomplete.

Haruichi knew a lot about what friends should be like in theory, but he only had real life experience with baseball teams, maybe a few classmates, and his brother. Haruichi had just never really had any close friends. He wasn't particularly outspoken, and since he had so much time to himself, he used it for baseball. Haruichi was used to it. He had never had any reason not to. Until now.

That was what he and Akemi had in common. The concept of friendship was familiar, but actually physically having one was new to both of them. They were friends by choice, not obligation, he thought. He hoped that she wasn't hanging around only because she had nobody else. His teammates, save Furuya, were more outgoing than Haruichi and he worried that Akemi was using him to befriend them. Perhaps she would cast him aside in their favour once she grew bored of him. She seemed like such a nice girl. Unique, but still a good person. Haruichi hoped that his first impression wasn't as far off as he was beginning to fear. The confidence brought by his accomplishment was crippled by insecurity. Sure, he had managed to make a new friend, but could he keep the relationship?

"Harucchi!" Sawamura whined, cutting off Haruichi's train of thought, "It's terrible!"

"What is?" Haruichi asked calmly. He had long gotten used to Sawamura's antics.

"First Furuya, and now Miyuki! Everyone seems to be trying to get in between me and my tire!"

The machine puttered to a stop, and Haruichi busied himself folding clean clothing while Sawamura complained next to him. He listened just enough to know when to nod or make a sympathetic noise.

"I think you'd feel better if you got a full night's sleep." Haruichi said finally, "Try to actually go to bed instead of running all the time."

"But I have to run because I can't sleep!"

Haruichi sighed, lifting the full basket of clean clothing to take back to his room. This conversation wasn't going anywhere. He and Sawamura were tired and irritable. Sleepy conversations led to misinterpretation and misunderstanding, and he didn't want to deal with would be better in the morning.

"Goodnight, Eijun."

"Goodnight, Harucchi."


	7. Chapter 7

Haruichi and Hotaru had presented their project, and were no longer obligated to conduct research. Even so, in unspoken agreement they continued to meet and eat lunch together. Some times they chatted, or played handheld games, others they sat in companiable silence, simply content to be in one another's presence.

Currently, Haruichi was telling a funny story about his teammates antics. Hotaru was listening intently, occasionally looking down at her sketchbook or jotting something down in her notebook. The team had some interesting dynamics. Hotaru found personalities and relationships in general, because they fell in her main area of weakness, but she especially loved Haruichi's stories. In was in truth, partially because it was Haruichi, and she loved having a friend with which to jump though the window of opportunity. All sorts of doors opened to fun things they could only do with multiple people, and they enjoyed being able to confide.

That being said, Hotaru particularly enjoyed Haruichi's stories and the characters they starred. The way he told it, Seido was like a strange family, one where the tree was all twisted and tangled, with branches stretching unexpected directions, however, this entertwinement made it all the more strong and stable.

Sawamura, for exampple, was like a little brother not just to Hotaru, but to th team. They couldn't help but want him to succeeed, no matter how annoying he grew. Kuramochi's unacknowledged protectiveness of him went a step further and could almost be called fatherly. He was a mixture of rowdy older brother and overprotective father , the kind that would never let his daughter go near any possible romantic interest. Miyuki's protectiveness took on an entirely different tone. Though on the surfaceit appeared to stem from Miyuki's caution surrounding interferances to his personal agenda, and te ways he was discreetly affecting Sawamura, Hotaru had other suspicions. Miyuki consciously influenced many people, so unless Sawamura was some sort of crowning jewel project, there was a deeper reason backing Miyuki's focussing of attention.

Haruichi actually had a biological older brother on the team. Ryousuke seemed cold and distant like the meaning of his name, at first, but his reflexive gentle smile was not entirely false. Much like Miyuki, Ryousuke took advantage of the way others respected and viewed him to have any potentially soft expressions written off as a smug or scheming unless the atmosphere was right. Additionally, Hotaru felt that baseball was not the only area in which Kuramochi learned from Ryousuke.

A nearby excited murmur grew audible, escalating into high pitched squealing, and they looked up to see a group of girls cooing over Miyuki.

"It's nice being somewhat under the radar." Haruichi commented.

"I can't tell if he likes the attention or is irritated by it." Hotaru nodded.

They heard Sawamura's loud voice as he boasted shamelessly. Miyuki took that as his cue, and slipped away from the throng of girls while they were momentarily distracted.

"That's why he insisted Eijun go with him." Haruichi realized aloud.

"Smart. Though I can see why he says Miyuki's manipulative."

"Should we have Miyuki use Eijun as a distraction in our story?"

"For sure."

They opened Hotaru's notebook and began adding to their already substantially developed story.

All of a sudden, Miyuki popped up behind their bench. Startled, Hotaru jumped up, sending her sketchbook clattering to the ground from its place next to her on the bench. Miyuki's sniggering was abruptly cut off as he noticed the drawing revealed by the open sketchbook. It was of Sawamura, but not like Miyuki had ever seen him. Sawamura's face wore an expression somewhere between admiration and adoration. The open happiness and sincerity his features held was breathtaking. Hotaru had captured the image beautifully.

"How did you get him to make that expression?" Miyuki asked incredulously, unabashedly ignoring the thought that he might be prying into something private with the extent curiosity.

Hotaru, noticing the page it was open to, shot forwards, flipping her sketchbook closed and slipping it into her bag with urgency in one fluid motion, "What expression?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

She glanced around nervously. The girls duped into listening to Sawamura had not yet dispersed, and were huddled like a sports team.

"I didn't get him to make it. He doesn't even know I drew it." Hotaru admitted, "It's just...opportunities like that are rare. Please don't tell anyone about it!"

Miyki raised an eyebrow, "If you didn't put that look on his face, then who did?"

"I can't say."

"Can't or won't? I'm his senpai, I only want the best for him."

"It's Eijun's information to give out when he's ready." Haruichi said, "I mean-that is-he looked so happy, getting involved might get us into an unecessary sticky situation."

Miyuki let out a sigh of resignation, "You're no fun, but I can see where you're coming from. At least let me know if there are any developments."

"Eijun will likely let us know off his own accord if there are."

"Besides, I don't stalk him!" Hotaru protested, "It was a coincidence. Why are you so focused on him anyway?"

Miyuki was silent for a moment. That line brought back memories. He had used it many times himself. As a child, whenever best friends had arguments and 'broke up', subsequently spending the next breaks beating around the bush, and fighting in an attempt to make up, he'd watched from afar, thinking that, if someone was that horrible to their best friend, then maybe they weren't worth associating with. When he had said so, he had received numerous shocked and dubious looks, as if he was suggesting an alien concept. He hadn't really had many friends of his own, so the reasons that people felt pursuing reconciliation was worth anything were beyond his comprehension. Rather than keeping their friends close and their enemies closer, most children that age were better off avoiding enemies altogether. Now, though, after he had seen how Sawamura drew others into easy companionship with his radiant aura, he felt differently. Instead of wanting to learn to use people most effectively, he was genuinely curious about how someone could get Sawamura to shine as brigthly as in the sketch without something silly like strings of festive lights.

"I saw him making eyes at his tire, and I'm getting suspicious." Miyuki came up with, knowing that while his statement was not a lie, it did not supply the entirety of the truth. But then, being earnest had never been his strongest suit. Why open a door when people are only going to pillage and loot? Laying yourself bare is making yourself vulnerable. That makes you a target. No strong outward appearance, even backed by physical strength, can protect you from every attack. The outskirts of honesty were sufficient for Miyuki's requirements.

"It's interesting how fickle people can be." Hotaru said suddenly, "The ace can be both the highest or lowest valued card, and in the game President, two is the highest, even though in most games, since people like a high ace, two is seen as the lowest card. People try to avoid it, and dislike having to deal with it, until the time where it's use is most blatantly obvious."

Miyuki wondered what she was getting at. He was unsure how deeply she understood baseball, but if she knew about catchers, pitchers, and jersey numbers, the metaphorical meaning was blaringly obvious. Just how far did she read into things, between the lines even?

"Do you thinnk that our characters should struggle with this realization?" Hotaru mused, "Miyuki could use a little more depth."

"He's still right there." Haruichi whispered.

"Miyuki the card and the human Miyuki have different destinies and are shaped by different experiences. Miyuki's choices are entirely his own."

Haruichi and Miyuki gave her matching quizzical looks.

"Well, the human Miyuki anyways. Miyuki the card is at our mercy." She grinned conspiratorially.

Miyuki laughed, "You're still working on that story?"

Haruichi flushed and confirmed, "We are."

"I'd like to read it sometime. It sounds like it would be worthwhile."

And with that, Miyuki left, not bothering to assess the expressions left on the faces of the first years behind him.


	8. Chapter 8

"Miyuki?" Eijun asked, a foreign apprehension audible in his voice.

"Yeah?" Miyuki replied, curious as to why he seemed so anxious.

"Do you like me?"

At first, Miyuki appeared unable to respond. Eijun realized that his question must have come out of the blue and taken him by surprise.

"Huh?"

Eijun explained nervously, "Well, i was pretty sure you dislike me, because you're always making fun of me, but Firefly-kun thinks that you like me."

"Why would I dislike you?"

"I don't know! But you don't bug Furuya all the time!"

"That's because he just ignores me."

"So if I ignore you, you'll stop bugging me?"

"No." Miyuki looked bewildered by Eijun's sudden fascination with the topic. Still, he managed to form short replies.

"Then why don't you bug him?"

"I do."

Eijun furrowed his brow, "But you just said-

"You and Furuya are different. I think of him differently than I think of you." Miyuki said gently.

Eijun felt his eyes widen as he wracked his brain, trying to think of an explanation, any explanation other than the one that had just popped into his head. Miyuki and Furuya couldn't be dating. However, Eijun's recent research with carefully selected mangas spelled it out all to clearly, and all of the signs were present. His frantic brainstorming was to no avail, and before Eijun could ask further questions, Furuya had stolen Miyuki away from him.

Miyuki's words echoed in Eijun's head. They played in a loop, stuck repeating like a broken record. He had never realized the extent of Miyuki's relationship with Furuya before, and having stumbled upon it so suddenly, couldn't begin to fathom how it began.

No.

He could.

They spent a lot of time together, and many close friendships deepened into something more. At least, that was what the mangas had said. Eijun felt guilty for not noticing sooner. He was sure his teammates would tease him to no end when he told them he'd finally figured it out.

Then Eijun had another sudden realization. Both Furuya and Miyuki had tried to get in between him and his tire. Furuya had been unusually considerate and found another tire to befriend, but the incident with Miyuki was recent. Could that mean that he was unfaithful? Was Miyuki forcing Sawamura's tire to cheat on him, while cheating on Furuya? Or was his tire with Miyuki willingly, because he hadn't been treating it well enough? Maybe it could even have been that Miyuki's willingness to destroy such an innocent relationship with a tire indicated a strong potential for infidelity and ruined relationships!

Eijun felt that there was only one thing he could do immediately. Apologize.

Glad that practice had finished, and it was getting late, Eijun went to find his tire. Nobody was around at this hour, so they could have privacy.

He pulled out his tire and gave it a loving stroke before the words began tumbling out.

"I'm sorry! I should have realized that I wasn't treating you well enough. I promise that I'll be better! But you can't be with Miyuki anymore. You can't let him cheat on Furuya! I know he's my rival, but we have to do the right thing. If Miyuki breaks his heart, then it will affect the whole team, and I'll have an unfair advantage!

Eijun heard footsteps behind him. but thought nothing of him. He needed to finish this conversation.

"Make sure you let me know if he-

"Eijun?" Haruichi interrupted timidly, "What are you yelling about?"

"Oh, hey, Harucchi. I had to apologize for not taking good care of my tire. And I asked it not to let Miyuki cheat on Furuya."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Miyuki has been trying to get between me and my tire. At first I thouht it was just because he didn't like me, and didn't want me to be happy, or maybe he got some kind of sadadistic pleasure from doing it, but it could be because he's obviously a player."

"I think you mean sadistic? But you can't have a romantic relationship with a tire, Eijun."

"Well, Miyuki still shouldn't break Furuya's heart!" Eijun was adamant.

"Why would he want do that?" Haruichi asked, concerned.

"Because he's Miyuki and he's warped."

"But Furuya doesn't like anyone like that."

"What? Are you even slower than me, Harucchi? Miyuki and Furuya are dating! Miyuki told me just now."

Haruichi's expression morphed into shock and confusion. He obviously didn't know whether to believe Eijun or not. Perhaps he could ask another member of the team, preferably one part of the so-called 'couple'.

They walked to the room Eijun shared with Matsuko and Kuramochi. When Eijun opened the door, he found that his roommates were still awake, playing video games.

"Kuramochi-senpai?" Haruichi asked, "Are Miyuki-senpai and Furuya really dating?"

Kuramochi paused the game and spun around, "Hyahaha! I think I heard you wrong."

"Are Furuya and Miyuki dating?" Haruichi repeated.

Kuramochi snickered, "You're funny. I don't know why you're so quiet."

Haruichi reddened.

"They are!" Eijun insisted, unsure why Kuramochi was on the floor laughing, considering the gravity of the situation, "Miyuki told me himself!"

Kuramochi looked up, "What? Were the two of you talking about your nonexistent love lives?"

He was one to talk. Haruichi rolled his eyes, glad for his bangs, and Kuramochi's fresh peals of laughter, which kept him from noticing Haruichi's disrespectfulness.

"No, I asked Miyuki why he's so nice to Furuya, and he said that-

"Wait. This isn't a lie?" Kuramochi knew that as melodramatic as he was, Eijun wasn't a very talented actor.

There was a pause where all that could be heard was Matsuo eating his pudding. Then Eijun seized his chance to express his concerns.

"It's true! Miyuki and Furuya are dating! And Miyuki's going to break Furuya's heart!" Eijun's voice rose in panic, "And then I will have an unfair advantage, and Furuya-

"Quiet down, Bakamura! You'll wake everyone up!" Kuramochi growled, twisting Eijun's right arm.

"I think he already woke everyone up." Matsuko said.

"Miyuki's cheating on-Eijun began.

"But isn't it a good thing if you have an advantage over Furuya?" Kuramochi smirked, "Are you working together? Is Miyuki cheating on Furuya with you?"

"What? No!" Eijun exclaimed. Why wouldn't they let him explain? "Miyuki was cheating on Furuya with my tire, but I convinced my tire not to let him."

"Then why are you concerned about Miyuki breaking Furuya's heart, idiot?"

"Because nobody deserves to have their heart broken, and Miyuki has a nasty personality, so he'll definitely break Furuya's." Eijun said, thinking that that much should be obvious, "Plus it'll mess things up for the team."

"I think you're just jealous."

"Of what?" Eijun asked. Was that the unexplainable emotion hidden behind his panic?

"Hyahaha! I think you know!" Kuramochi told him.

"Furuya and Miyuki are dating, and Miyuki is going to break Furuya's heart! Why would I be jealous? I don't like Furuya like that, and I definitely don't want my heart broken!"

"Maybe you-

Eijun didn't get to hear Kuramochi's reasoning, because just then, Miyuki burst through the door.

"Speak of the devil." Kuramochi grinned.

Haruichi and Masako just watched the drama unfold from the corner.

Miyuki's gaze found Eijun and hardened, "What the heck are you yelling about, Bakamura?"

"You're going to break his heart!" Eijun pointed an accusatory finger at Miyuki.

"Why would I date Furuya, and what makes you think I would break his heart?" Miyuki growled.

"You told me that you're dating, and you're twisted, so you'll obviously break his heart."

"When did I ever say I was going out with Furuya?" Miyuki demanded.

"When I asked why you're always so nice to him." Eijun found it strange that Miyuki had forgotten an incident emphasizing his obliviousness so quickly. Miyuki took nearly every opportunity to tease him.

Miyuki's eyes widened with comprehension, "Idiot! I said that he's no fun to make fun of because he just ignores me. I never said we were dating!"

"Oh!" Eijun exclaimed, "I'm sorry! I didn't realize that you weren't together yet. Don't worry, I'll help you confess to him."

"I thought you were worried about Miyuki breaking his heart." Kuramochi reminded him mischievously.

"Oh, yeah. You're right. But according to the ma-my research, unrequited love is bad. Now Miyuki is going to act even weirder whenever Furuya is around, and won't be able to catch properly because love makes people weak. What are we going to do?!" Eijun worried.

"I don't have a crush on Furuya, and I'm a better catcher than that! How lowly do you think of me? I'm your senpai!" Miyuki exclaimed.

"What exactly do you mean by research?" Haruichi interjected, speaking before Eijun could form a retort.

"Firefly-chan made me realize that I don't know enough about relationships, so I took a bunch of relationship manga out of the library." Eijun informed him.

"Idiot." Miyuki grouched, "That's probably the worst way to research relationships."

"Hyahaha! If you can even call it research!" Kuramochi added.

Eijun huffed, "Well, the librarian said they were the most popular relationship books. You obviously don't know anything about shoujo or shounen-ai."

"And you obviously don't know anything about relationships." Kuramochi retorted.

"I know lots! I know about confessions, and unrequited love, and requited love, and jealousy, and love at first sight, and crushes, and cheating, and breaking up, and dates, and-

"I think we get the point, Eijun." Haruichi interrupted, "But it's pretty late and we should probably get to sleep."

"Idiots need at least eight hours to function properly." Miyuki agreed.

After Miyuki and Harwich left, Eijun endured Kuramochi's scolding and wrestling holds. Then he sat on his bed, trying to make sense of the past few hours. From what he could tell, Miyuki wasn't dating Furuya, but could still be in denial about having a crush on him. Either way, Eijun was going to have his work cut out for him, making sure none of his teammates' hearts got broken.


	9. Chapter 9

He'd always been naturally good with people, but Miyuki and romance were two things beyond Eijun's innate charisma. Just because his likability was instinctual, didn't mean he understood it. He was used to it, took it for granted. Actually thinking about all of the subtle signs and indications was confusing. Eijun hadn't really been all that great with memorization in the first place. And so he found himself forgetting about his intent to learn in the face of the touching story. The protagonist worried endlessly and worked towards her goal of capturing her beloved's heart, in an entrancing dance of images and dialogue. Eijun had thoroughly enjoyed every manga so far, and was hit by intense 'feels' with each story. He was working his way up to a shounen-ai, which he wa particularly excited about. The mangas with female protagonists, however touching, lacked a certain unpredictability. They all had similar tropes and cliches, and overlooked the possibility of any pairing that wasn't heterosexual. Besides, the shoujo was what he normally read anyways. Eijun liked the idea of more possibilities for the plot, and wanted to know more about boys romance, which was why a shounen-ai was next in line.

The best part of Eijun's new project was that he didn't have to pretend to be interested in the book in front of him in class. He was actually trying to do research. Unfortunately, the teacher did not share his views.

"Sawamura!" She barked, "Since your leisure novel is so much more interesting than the lesson, you will make up for your disrespect by playing a lead role in the play your classmates will vote upon."

"What play?" Furuya asked, awoken by the teacher raising her voice.

"Ah, Furuya, we will vote on your role, too. If you had paid attention you would know that we were just discussing a play that we will be putting together. The options are on the board, but you and Sawamura do not get to vote, because you will be making up for all of your missed content by playing lead roles."

A couple people 'ooohed' an Sawamura went to mock his rival, but fell short when he laid eyes on the board. His recent excursions into the world of romantic literature had educated him enough to allow the realization that all but one play listed was a romance. Would he and Furuya be fighting for the same lover, or would they be lovers themselves?A cold sweat dropped down from Eijun's brow and he fiercely hoped that his classmates chose a play where the latter was not the case. He knew they weren't above the former, but a boy could dream. Besides, he still wasn't fully convinced that Miyuki was uninterested in Furuya. What if jealousy made his feeling glaringly obvious, and Furuya found out in a bad way? Poor Miyuki. By falling in love with Furuya, whether he would admit it or not, he had gotten himself into a sticky situation.

Eijun wracked his brain for an escape, but there was only one thing he could come up with, and judging by his peers' suggestions listed up front, it would do little to help. Either way, it was worth a try.

"Sensei, I have an idea!" He exclaimed, "What if everyone writes a script, and we combine the best ones to make play? Then it will be unique and original, and represent our class' skills as writers!"

She examined him for a moment, considering his words. Eijun squirmed under her scrutiny, but to his relief, she broke out into a pleasantly surprised grin.

"That's actually a wonderful idea. You should contribute more in class, Sawamura. I'm going to incorporate your scripts into your overall mark as another project." She turned to the class, "You may work individually, or in pairs. I would like two pages of dialogue, and accompanying staging. Get started now and I will give you the requirements before class ends."

Eijun could only cross his fingers that the chosen script was in his favor. Perhaps if he included some romance into his script his classmates would be more likely to choose it.

Then again, romance was what he was trying to avoid. Perhaps if he decided the actors playing a few roles ahead of time he could make sure he, himself avoided any unwanted romantic traumas.

He bent over his desk and started writing. By the end of class he had brainstormed and began the script.

* * *

Sakuya no Sakura

Cast:

(EJ)Eisawa Jun: Sawamura Eijun

(ST)Sakuya Tooru: Furuya Satoru

(SS)Sakuya Sakura: ?

(N)Narator: ?

(A1)Admirer One: ?

(A2)Admirer Two: ?

(A3)Admirer Three: ?

N: Eisawa Jun started his life as an average boy in an average town, but all of that changed when the Sakuyas moved in. Sakuya Sakura's catchy name and graceful beauty led her to receive countless love confessions, and Sakuya Tooru was an outwardly quiet, brooding boy whose mystery captured the affections of many schoolgirls...If only they knew the truth...

(EJ stands upstage right, ST enters stage left)

EJ: Hey, are you the new guy?

(ST looks up from the ground at EJ)

EJ: You're Sakuya Tooru, right?

(ST nods)

EJ: Can you talk? I don't know sign language.

ST: I can talk. I just don't think you're worth my time.

EJ: Well, I'm the star player of the-

ST: I don't care. You're just another hotshot after my sister.

(EJ lifts a finger to point at ST)

EJ: Did you just call me hot?

ST: You're an idiot.

(EJ looks insulted)

EJ: That insult was uncalled for and did not answer my question in the slightest.

(SS enters stage left)

SS: There you are! I was looking all over for you Nii-chan.

EJ: Hi! I'm Eisawa Jun. Nice to meet you.

SS: I'm Sakuya Sakura. Nice to meet you too. Nii-chan didn't have many friends at our old school, please be patient with him. He's actually really sweet.

ST: You don't need to tell him that. Besides, I'm fine so long as I have you.

EJ: Aww! Twins' relationships are so cute!

(ST glares at EJ)

N: That was where Sakuya Tooru's hate of Eisawa Jun began, and, sadly, it would cause great sorrow before it ended.

A1: Sakura-sama keeps rejecting my love.

A2: She won't accept mine either.

A3: I think it's because of her twin brother, Tooru.

A2: What's his deal anyways? You'd think that having all the other girls wrapped around his finger was good enough, but he just has to have his sister too.

A3: Sure, she's the prettiest, but if he's all protective and making her off limits to us, she should be off limits to him, too.

(EJ peeks over a bush nearby)

A1: What if we get her alone and give her some time away from him to experience other people?

A2: I like where this is going.

EJ: I don't.

A3: How about we meet school ends in two days?

Eijun sighed. He had yet to write the portion where Sakura was kidnapped by A1 through 3 and saved by Eisawa. The plan was that, afterwards, Tooru would show up and take his tied up twin home. Before that, Eisawa would stalk Sakura's admirers to get details about their plot. He was going to skirt around some forbidden love-type scenarios, and possibly change the Sakuya twin's last names to Futooru, but honestly, this script just wasn't doing it for him. Eijun needed something unique. Something creative and out of this world, that captured the audience with a _zing_ and held them hostage even after it had finished, possibly even prompting FanFictions to be written.


End file.
